The Little World

When I introduced this Mister Craft model last post you may have gotten the impression that I was making fun of it. Nothing of the sort. I am coming to the conclusion that there is no fun to be made with any part of it.

The good news is the wing top and bottom halves match – unlike the last MC kit I undertook. And the two fuselage halves match…this is to the credit of MC. On the debit side, the wings do not fit the fuselage attachment points and they have been moulded with an distinct anhedral. This would have been a surprise both to Republic and to the pilots who flew them.

Well, the plastic is not brittle  – it can be carved away and reshaped easily. The final cementation of the wings to the fuselage will be with slow-cure cement to gain the most adherence possible. A careful jig job, I can assure you.

The inside of the thing is worse. The cockpit tub is almost a fit, but the nose splitter intake is hanging in there by the grace of God. I think it will be time to re-enforce it with sprue cut-offs and hope that the lead weights will not shift.

The maddening thing about it is the instruction sheet. It shows parts to be detailed and well-fitting when in reality they are just approximate blobs. It demands that you decal the instruments on the cockpit tub but no decals are included for this. There is a clear divergence between what they promise and what they deliver. All based upon a low price and old moulds.

I’m still having fun, but the laughter is turning sardonical.